How to Make Long Flights Tolerable

Here’s the funny thing: I hate flying.
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Yet I’ve taken 18 flights in the last 9 months. Including one Wednesday. And my next flight is today.⠀
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To be clear — I’m not afraid of flying. I just don’t enjoy it. It’s noisy. It’s cramped. I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate. I feel drained and exhausted afterwards. ⠀
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Since I’ve been on the road (um, in the air) so much this year, I realized I needed coping strategies to make long flights tolerable. Here’s how I manage the irritations of flying, and how I keep costs to a minimum:

#1: I avoid layovers whenever possible. I’ll rearrange dates and plans, if needed, to fly nonstop.⠀
⠀#2: I avoid early-morning flights. Catching a 10 a.m. flight means leaving home by 8 a.m. Anything earlier is just cruel and unusual. (International flights are different, but there’s more flexibility with domestic itineraries.)⠀
⠀#3: I reach the airport at least 1 hour and 15 minutes before domestic flights, even though that’s overkill. I also allow 30 minutes for the ride to the airport, even though I can usually Uber there in 20. Building these time buffers helps me relax.⠀
⠀#4: I love TSA PreCheck; I can’t imagine flying without it. If you value your time at all, sign up for this program immediately. (More below.)
⠀#5: I’ve made a rule for myself: No working on flights. I hold flights as special time for my favorite hobby, reading books, and I read anything I want, not necessarily business/money books. Yesterday I started reading the latest Dan Brown novel.⠀
⠀#6: I wear noise-cancelling earmuffs to drown the engine noise. This makes a HUGE difference.⠀

⠀#7: Although I have access to many airline lounges, which feature open bars, I don’t drink alcohol when I’m flying. It just makes me dehydrated and cranky.⠀
⠀#8: Speaking of cranky — I always carry snacks. Although that’s a good practice for life.

How to Keep Flying Costs Low (without Losing Your Mind)

#1: Let’s start with ground transportation. Uber and Lyft both have a ‘carpool’ option, in which you can snag a cheaper price by sharing your ride. Since people are always heading to/from the airport, this is an easy way to save money on ground transit.

#2: Check public transit options both at home and at your destination. In Dallas, for example, I discovered that the light rail arrived immediately in front of my hotel. Goodbye, $25 Uber; hello, $2.50 rail ticket.

#4: Redeem miles for at least 2 percent. If a flight costs $400, for example, I’ll only pay for that same flight with 20,000 or fewer miles. I’ve found the best redemption values on international flights and upgrades.

Here’s a handy chart.

Why? Simple: If I earn one mile per dollar, and I redeem those miles at two percent … well, the math is obvious. It’s like I’m saving two percent on every purchase.

If I also get a signup bonus, I’m in the 3-4 percent zone. Sweet!

Tip: Grab at least one card that gives you complimentary access to airline lounges. This is icing on the cake — or more accurately, it’s guacamole on the chip. Which leads to my next point —

#5: Devour the airport lounge snacks: hummus, cheese, olives, veggies, soups, chocolate-chip cookies. Many lounges offer a free guacamole bar, which is basically my definition of heaven. I refer to airport lounges as the Executive Soup Kitchen, and thanks to these, I haven’t bought food at an airport in years.

Tip: Eat everything in sight. (Wait, is that just me?)Extra Tip: Send the chocolate-chip cookies through the revolving-belt toaster. They come out warm and gooey.

#6: (If you’re a U.S. citizen) —
Applying for TSA PreCheck costs $85. Applying for Global Entry, which streamlines your re-entry to the U.S. from abroad, costs $100 and includes TSA PreCheck. So for an extra $15, you get access to both programs and can jump the line.

Duh. This is a no-brainer deal. (Also, some credit cards will reimburse your application fee.)

#7: (If you’re self-employed) —
Many of my trips have a business component, which means I can write-off most of the costs. This gives me an effective 25-35 percent ‘discount,’ so to speak.

I’ll fly to Seattle for face-to-face meetings, for example, or I’ll fly to Austin for a conference. Since I’m traveling there anyway, I’ll spend an extra few days exploring the area.

To make bookkeeping easy, I pay for the trip’s business expenses with a business card, and personal expenses with a personal card. Voila, it’s automated.

#8: (Also if you’re self-employed) —
One of the coolest things about the laptop lifestyle is the blurry line between “business meeting” and “hanging out with friends who share your passion.”

For example —

I met Emma Pattee from a cold email. She asked me to speak at an event she was organizing. I said no.

She emailed again a year later. I said no.

Sounds like a great start to a friendship, doesn’t it?

But once we met, we clicked instantly, and in July we flew out to Alabama to check out rental properties together. We stayed up late every night drinking red wine and eating key lime pie. It was awesome.

I love hanging out with her. But every hangout session is also super-productive. And that leads me to perhaps the best frugal hack of all: love what you do — and whom you do it with — so much that it doesn’t feel like work. Love it so much that this is what you’d be doing anyway. And then wait for that moment of joyous surprise when you realize that the IRS doesn’t have any restrictions against liking the people that you work with.

After all, isn’t a “mastermind group” just a formalized version of having friends?

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So … that’s how I make flights tolerable.

I shared this on Instagram and Facebook the other day, and several people offered awesome recommendations, as well — get a seat located in front of the engines, take a shower when you land, and start flying by private jet (WTF?? Huh??)

If you have any more ideas, I’m all ears. Well, muffled ears. 🙂

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My whole family is in Vietnam. Every time I go visit them, it would mean a 20+ hour flight. I guess I just got used to it.

I don’t like all the long waits and delays, but I do enjoy having the time to just watch movies for hours on end without feeling guilty about it. The food on the plane is also tasty sometimes, especially if I fly Korean or Japan Airline hehe.

I’m a huge fan of giving myself plenty of cushion at the airport time-wise, otherwise I just stress out too much.

One “accidental hack” I use now is flying from a small airport. I lived about 1.5 hours from LAX for 8 years and it was stressful + expensive to fly. Now, I live 20 minutes from a small, regional airport with 5 gates. Sure, I typically have a layover, but the ease of travel now is incredible, I can leave my house, drive to the airport, get through security (pre-check!) and sit at the gate in about 35 minutes flat. It is amazing!

Another “travel hack” I would add is to always travel with only a carry on. Checking baggage takes way too much time and the extra weight and hassle associated with all that stuff is just not worth it. I traveled for 2 weeks in Spain this last summer and carried only a 20L backpack. It was great! People think they can’t do it, but the reality is that you don’t need that much stuff and it is easy to wash a couple clothes items while on travel.

Couldn’t agree more with Global Entry / TSA Pre-Check — best $100 spend in the last many years for me!

I used to have a beer or two on a flight… but then I realized:
1. I needed the bathroom pretty soon and often
2. I’m usually by myself, so I’m really drinking by myself and not really having THAT much fun
3. Why? I’d rather just go to sleep, skip the calories, and the bathroom trips!

Perfect timing. We are just about to leave for our international trip to El Salvador and Ecuador.

We use cushion time for flight. Maybe to excess but I would really rather not miss a flight and normally I am all over non-stop flight. Much easier when you have kids and also if they are red eyes even better. then the kids sleep.

But sadly I wasn’t able to find non-stop flights internationally … And they are uber early. 6 am (AY dios mio. )

Great tips. I do a ton of work travel and I live 2 hours from the airport! Still, I usually get to the airport a few hours early, setup in the Admiral’s Club and work on side projects while drinking free coffee and eating free cookies!

It sounds weird but having access to the lounge bathrooms is also a huge perk! I’ll take clean bathrooms over a free beer any day!

I just got an email from IHG this morning. For 30,000 points, they’ll “give” me TSA Pre-Check. Since 30k is slightly more than the cost of a single “free” hotel night, I think it’s kind of a wash. But hey, it’s no money OOP. If I flew as much as you do, I’d grab it, but I think I’ll pass. Very interesting offer, though.

I used to love Benadryl for miserable cross country business flights, booked by the horrible company travel agent drones. A four hour nap, with no lingering side effects, sweet, right? Nope. My MIL has ALZ and it is forbidden because it makes them crazy. Not going to get a head start down that path.

For anyone thinking they can deduct all their flights as a business expense so long as there is some business component, be very careful of this. There are lots of additional requirements to meet in order to actually write off the costs. You cannot simply fly into town for a lunch with a friend/business partner and then spend 4 days exploring and deduct the entire trip. Good way to get big penalties from IRS.

I have a couple of suggested tweaks when it comes to the miles/points game. First, along the lines of the 10X mindset Paula mentions elsewhere, be careful about losing yourself down the points rabbit hole and wasting a ton of time with small maximizations. To that end, I suggest:

–Assuming you aren’t about to apply for a mortgage, apply for three or four cards per year to lock in the bonus miles. Just use Paula’s suggestions for which cards to get (or The Points Guy is good, too).

–Beyond locking in the massive sign on bonuses, which in some cases can be worth a thousand dollars or more per card, just go with a solid cash back card. There are Chase and Cap One cards that pay 2% back on all purchases.

–When you do redeem points, just use them for transatlantic flights. You will usually get a better return.

–One exception, if you live where Southwest Airlines flies, use their points for domestic flights. They are an insane deal–about half the points that United, American or others require for the same trips. Also, you can reserve flights with Southwest points, but then cancel up to 10 min before the flight. So you can lock flights in early but maintain flexibility.

–Don’t obsess beyond the above. The ROI on your time will plummet if you spend hours trying to maximize down to the last little point. Just lock in the bonus points and get 2% cash back on everything else.

I just discovered your blog, Paula, I specifically really like the quality of your thinking. That’s what it’s all about with these blogs, no? I made it to FI without ever buying property, but am considering diversifying into rental properties just to hedge against market volatility over the long term. So thanks for all the great info you are putting out there. Love your spunky voice.

Wow. This is the BEST comment — I’d give it 100 thumbs-up if I could. 🙂

Your recommendations for making the most of your mileage (and your time/energy) are 100% on-point. Lock in the bonus points. Get 2% cash back on everything else. Limit yourself to 3-4 cards per year. And then call it good. 🙂

Thank you for the compliments, also, and congratulations on reaching FI! 🙂